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Bullock’s Oriole in northwest Gainesville!

On Saturday morning an adult male Bullock’s Oriole visited Ted and Steven Goodman’s feeding station in the Mile Run development. Ted got a photo – a bit overexposed, so that the bird looks yellow instead of orange, but the dark line through the eye and the throat stripe are clearly visible: http://www.flickr.com/photos/74215662@N04/11760659335/

The bird was not seen again in the afternoon, but Ted says there’s a flock of Baltimore Orioles that roams the neighborhood and the Bullock’s was associating with them. He says that anyone hoping to see the bird is welcome to drop by the house at 6437 NW 37th Drive (you can use Google Maps to find it; but it’s just west of NW 37th Street, north of NW 53rd Avenue). Sunday morning would be ideal, since he and the family will be leaving early in hopes of seeing the Bar-tailed Godwit in the Tampa Bay area. The bird was last seen today a little before noon. There have been three to six previous sightings of this species in Alachua County, depending on the reliability of the observers.

And that’s not the only good bird here: today Mary Landsman alerted me to the presence of three immature Brown Pelicans on Bivens Arm. They had gone to roost in some lakeside trees by late afternoon, and should still be there tomorrow.

This morning’s Alachua Audubon field trip to La Chua went pretty well. We found a Wilson’s Warbler at the little dip in Sparrow Alley, right where Mike Manetz found it on the 29th, and saw two King Rails, several Soras, the semi-resident female Vermilion Flycatcher, and an immature Purple Gallinule. Ducks were hard to see because of all the vegetation, but we did spot Blue-winged Teal (numerous), Green-winged Teal, Mottled Ducks, Ring-necked Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, and a couple of Northern Shovelers. Those who stayed late added two Grasshopper Sparrows and a Barn Owl to the list – 68 species overall, by my count.